Within Fate's Grasp
by ST0PLiGHT
Summary: Fearing for the future of Spira, Zanarkand High is transformed into a prestigious school of training to educate its students and the gang in weaponry, magic, defenses and to protect the sacred summoners on their journey to defeat Sin for the first time.
1. Prologue: Yuna

**Disclaimer:** As much as it pains me to say this; I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2.

**Author's Notes:** Hello there. After reading quite a few fics on this site I started getting some ideas so I wrote a story of my own and here it is.

There is more information such as pairings and a better summary on my profile page.

Please enjoy.

* * *

-Within Fate's Grasp-

-Prologue-

-Yuna's POV-

---

I glanced at the clock on the wall in front of me. It read six thirty three.

I yawned, stirring my sugary tea.

"They're fighting again," I stated, monotonously as Lenne walked into the kitchen. "Rikku and Paine, I mean."

"Kinda hard not to notice," she said, patting my shoulder. She took a seat next to me, rubbing her temples.

It's the same routine, every morning. Rikku is a heavy sleeper and the only thing that is able to wake her up is her alarm clock which goes off at six thirty every morning and Paine goes berserk.

To prevent this, we have tried several times to set the alarm to go off at a later time but you know the Al Bhed. If you can believe it, she made the alarm clock herself and none of us have the slightest clue how to operate it.

If you were sleeping, like I am most of the time, there's no point of even closing your eyes 'cause there is no way you're getting back to sleep, trust me. Paine screams and yells and throws things, including Rikku; the whole works. One time I walked into their room and Paine had Rikku tied upside down to the ceiling fan.

I don't know how she does it. Neither do I want to know.

"Mercy!" I heard Rikku scream from the second floor.

"Not this time!" Paine shouted back.

Rikku's simply just…Rikku. And she has about minus ten bazillion respect points. She just doesn't learn.

She's my cousin and I love her – really, I do – but sometimes I wish she would just grow up. I'm sure a lot of people wish that, though so I'm not ashamed to admit it. She's always in your face about something; Paine's face more than anyone's.

Sure, I wish she would just fall down the stairs but Paine… if she wants something bad enough, she won't stand aside and wait for it to happen; she'll actually push her down the stairs. And then guess who comes running to me?

Yup, Rikku.

"Lulu! Do something!" I shouted as Lulu slowly made her way down the stairs behind me.

"I don't want to get involved. They have to settle this themselves," she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee, once she had crossed into the kitchen.

Some help Lulu is. Paine is her sister for crying out loud.

"Don't want to get involved?" I raised an eyebrow. "It's more like you don't want to get hurt." Not that I blame her, though. "Sometimes, I wish you would just take action. You know; maybe open a can of whoop-ass on their whining butts."

She laughed, shaking her head.

I raised my head as I heard something fall down a flight of stairs.

Probably Rikku.

"Well, I have to have a shower." Lenne jumped up and ran down the short hallway to her right. I rolled my eyes and Lulu just waved her hand, motioning for me to let it slide.

Every morning, Lenne spends three freaking hours in the washroom. Once Lenne is awake, there's no chance of getting in washroom. It's like her second bedroom, filled with all her makeup and perfume, all that girly stuff.

But this is the kind of thing you have to deal with when living with four roommates. Yes, four – Paine, Rikku, Lenne and Lulu; so five, if you're including me.

But that's not the worst of it. We live in a small, two floor, three bedroom, one bathroom house in the central core of Zanarkand. It sounds impossible, I know. But we are best friends and together, we can do the impossible.

Lulu slowly walked over beside me and tried to start up a conversation. "So how has the first week of eleventh grade been?"

"Not so bad." I heaved a sigh and took another sip of my tea. "Though, you'd think by eleventh grade, Rikku might have matured by now."

"You know Rikku."

"Immature for life," I exclaimed, mimicking Rikku's fisted heart pound, perfecting with the hippy's peace sign. "But everyone loves her so it can't be that bad."

Her father, my Uncle Cid is the ruler of Home, the home of the Al Bhed, thus Rikku is the most famous Al Bhed girl in all of Spira. That is probably one of the reasons why she is popular at school, besides the fact that she parades around in a bikini top and a super short skirt.

But unlike the rest of the popular girls, Rikku is smart, too. All her life, she had been taught all about machina; how to use them, repair them, build them, you name it; she'll know it. She's a wiz.

"Rikku! I'm going to kill you!" I heard Paine scream from the second floor. Shortly after, I heard Rikku bounding down the stairs, Paine not far behind her. They flew into the kitchen, right through to the living room, where Rikku jumped on the couch, Paine jumping on top of her.

"You aren't going to stop them?" I asked, casually.

She took a glance at them, taking notice to Paine's rage and her hands grasping Rikku's tiny neck, banging her head against the couch cushions. Lulu looked back toward me. "I'm not. Are you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, no," I declared. Lulu smiled and left to book an appointment in the washroom before we had to leave for school.

---

Eventually, we did get to school on time.

We drove into the student parking lot and hopped out of Lenne's car, before walking through the crowded courtyard of Zanarkand High.

"Hey, Lu!" Not even five minutes on campus and Chappu, Lulu's boyfriend had managed to scope her out.

Lulu's the only one of the five us who has had a boyfriend for longer then a month. I think it has to do with being all mature and all-knowing but who knows; maybe it has to do with the body she covers up with all those belts. She could be a babe and you'd never know it. But for some reason I highly doubt that's the reason. Chappu isn't the kind of guy to like a girl because of her body.

"I'll see you guys at lunch! Save me a seat!" Lulu called as I waved and continued towards the giant school, Lenne, Paine and Rikku right behind me.

Chappu is a great guy – friendly, smart, and such a romantic. He moved to Zanarkand with his brother Wakka shortly after we did. He's the kind of guy that could get any girl he wanted. I guess my point was proven with Lulu. She doesn't seem like his type and he doesn't seem like her type.

But I guess love does that to you.

Lulu only fell in love with Chappu a few months ago, even though she's being dating him for like a whole freaking year and a half. She may have told him that she loved him but she only recently _fell_ in love with him.

One day, she just woke up and had that gleam in her eye and it was like she was in zero percent gravity. During class that day, she wasn't paying attention like she usually does; she was doodling hearts with her and Chappu's name in them and she was always humming this unusual tune.

She eventually got over that faze and back into reality but I was guessing that something happened the previous night. I didn't look any further into the matter – I didn't care nor want to know, but Rikku and Lenne did.

We made our way past the group of cheerleaders and the Gods who were sitting around the water fountain in front of the front doors of the school. They were laughing and having a great time, but Wakka waved as we walked by. I took the time to wave back, hoping his friends didn't give him a hard time for being friends with someone who's not apart of their group.

Wakka is kind of weird when it comes to our little group. He is one of the hottest guys of Zanarkand High, standing along side Tidus and Gippal. They are known as the Zanarkand High Gods only because they are slightly better looking than most of the guys in our school and are the best Blitzball players of the Zanarkand High team.

Wakka and Chappu are brothers – fraternal twins to be exact – and grew up in the same small village as Lulu and me. He's an okay guy, and since originating from Besaid, he has that cute accent; as does Chappu.

Gippal, Wakka and Tidus are best friends and sometimes you'll see Shuyin hanging with them too, though since both Wakka and Gippal are a year older than Tidus, he hangs out with other people when they aren't around. But as Chappu is dating Lulu; Wakka spends a lot of time with us which we don't mind as long as he keeps his sex life to himself – that was the agreement.

We hurriedly walked through the hallway, dodging the crowds of people forming along the walls. I headed up the third floor of the massive building to the locker Paine and I shared. I unloaded my backpack and organized my stuff, then grabbing the books I needed for my next few classes.

I walked into my homeroom class and took a seat near the front. I was a goody-goody but it paid off with my good grades.

I'm head of the yearbook committee, editor and photographer for the school newspaper and head of the leadership committee.

What can I say?

I'm popular and it's quite a title to live up to. Everyone depends on you and everyone expects all these great accomplishments from you. They expect the dances and pep rallies to be perfect. They expect the newspaper to be perfect. They expect the yearbook to be perfect. They expect _you_ to be perfect which I'm not but pull off quite well if I do say so myself.

Organizing my binders, I noticed Rikku and Lenne had taken the seats beside me, but Paine sat in the back by Baralai, an old friend of hers.

I only recently met him, thanks to Chappu who introduced us, though Paine seemed to know him from a previous life or something. They were chatting up a storm like they were best friends when they were six. And it turned out; her parents and his parents had known each other for a long time and the last time she saw him was a few years back, before she moved to Zanarkand.

Weird, huh? How people you haven't seen for years, happen to be right under your nose and you just didn't notice. But then again, Zanarkand High is _massive_! Zanarkand High is in Central Zanarkand so all students of all four Zanarkand Sectors attend the same school, so they could be walking down the same hallway as you or using the next bathroom stall over and you wouldn't notice.

Lenne's mellow voice brought me back to reality. "Yuna?" she asked.

"Yeah?" I blinked my bi-colour eyes to focus on my surroundings.

"Don't you agree?" she asked.

"I didn't hear what you said," I admitted, wrinkling my nose.

"We think Paine and Baralai would be such a cute couple," Rikku explained, excitedly.

I laughed. "Do you two have nothing better to do than match up people?"

Rikku narrowed her eyes at me but didn't have a chance to respond as the teacher entered the room.

Rikku has always been there for me, being not only my cousin but my best friend. The way I would describe Rikku would be that she is perky, lively, cheerful, bubbly, and hyper; need I go on? And what I totally respect about her is that if something is bugging her, she is so open and upfront about it.

"Good morning, class," said Mr. Nooj, as he made his way to the front of the room where he took attendance. "Barthello?"

"Here," Barthello grunted.

"Clasko?"

"Here," the small boy squeaked.

"Dona?"

"Over here," the girl waved, not lifting her head from her magazine.

Suddenly, while all was silent, someone's voice echoed in the hallway. "Practice tonight at seven, eh? Don't forget."

"Aight, brother; see you then." As the second person's footsteps continued down the hall, the first person gingerly pushed open the door and walked briskly into the classroom. He winked and smiled at a couple girls as he headed to the back of the room and took a seat with some of his Blitzer buddies.

"Thank you for disrupting my class, Tidus. Glad you could make it."

"No problem, Mr. N. We all know my future is all set, but I guess coming to class can't hurt."

With his Blitzball skills and killer body, Tidus could get any girl he wanted.

Except me, of course.

I wouldn't go out with little prick if my life depended on it. Sure, he's gorgeous; no doubt, with his shaggy blonde hair and bright azure eyes but girls are nothing more than sex objects to him. He'll be walking down the hallway, winking at everything with shaved legs that walks by, though if you're going out with him, you're yesterday's news as soon as the next thing with a high-pitched school girl laugh blushes at his stupid pick-ups lines. I refuse to have anything to do with him. I'm not into those stupid only-dating-the-person-for-sex relationships. It's almost like he doesn't believe in falling in love or something crazy like that.

I want to fall in love. But I'm not going to rush something as big as that onto myself. It'll happen when it'll happen. That's what I kept telling Wakka but he was so hooked on setting me up with Tidus. One; I've never even met the guy and two; I loath his very existence.

"Good you see it that way. It could really hurt and jeopardize your _set_ future if you don't get a passing grade for this class. You need to maintain at least a C average to stay on the team, y'know?" Mr. Nooj reminded him.

I mean, sure, I know him. Who doesn't?

He's Zanarkand High's Most Wanted; _the_ one and only Tidus, Zanarkand Abe's youngest – being only seventeen – and best Blitzball player. He's only the best because his father is Jecht. Yes, the Jecht who used to play for the Zanarkand Abes, but as soon as he retired to be Zanarkand High's Blitzball coach, the team quickly recruited Tidus and Tidus soon became their best player.

Like father, like son.

"No worries. The year's hardly begun. You'll be seeing loads of me. After a couple classes with me, you'll want me to not show up."

Mr. Nooj raised an eyebrow and stared him down as Tidus smirked. "Alright, now that that's settled, let's continue, shall we? Elma?"

"Here." The small brunette slowly lifted her hand into the air.

* * *

**Author's note:** Hey there. So that's the prologue… Waddaya think?

It case anyone is interested, it was about ten pages, size 12, Times New Roman. I hope it's a suitable length. Most chapters will be about the same.

Anyways, if you have any Questions, Concerns or Comments please drop me a **review**. Hehe -- I love **reviews**, S.


	2. Chapter One: Tidus

**Disclaimer:** As much as it pains me to say this; I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2.

**Author's Note:** Hiya. While writing the prologue, a few new ideas were popping into my mind, so I just want to make it clear that this story is a High School Fic as much as I loath High School fics and it is happening in Spira, 1000 years _before_ the events of Final Fantasy X and _before_ Sin's first appearance. And because Sin doesn't exist, neither do the Chocobo Knights or the Crusaders. And there are no Sphere Hunters and no Youth League either. Just keep that in mind throughout reading the story.

Alright; onto the first chapter…

* * *

-Within Fate's Grasp-

-Chapter One-

-Tidus's POV-

---

"Whatcha doing up so early, Brudda?" Wakka asked me as he passed me and walked in the kitchen, opening the fridge.

"Couldn't sleep. I would be in the shower but Gippal's been in there for the past forty-five minutes," I stated simply, poking my cereal with my spoon. "Why are you here so early?"

"Me? I'm always here at seven to pick up Gippal, but you and Shuyin would never know that. You two sleep into, like, eight."

"I know… my life is so boring, predictable and repetitive."

"You need some… uh, excitement in your life – and no, I do not think 'girls' is the answer. I was thinking…" Wakka paused and I urged him to go on, laughing at his comment. "Well, the gang and I have been talking about going away for Christmas holidays and I know you have a cabin up at Mt. Gagazet, so… maybe we could all go spend Christmas there. It would be chance for them to finally meet you and a chance for you to get away from girls and those stuck up snobs you hang around for a bit – waddaya think, ya?"

"You're kidding? Wakka, it's only September; school just started like a week ago and Christmas is in four months."

"I know but you know Lu," he stopped suddenly.

"Actually, no; I don't."

"Right," Wakka shifted his eyes, nervously, "Well, Lulu… she always has to have everything planned out at least two months prior… so you in?"

"Yeah; sounds like fun."

"You should probably meet the gang first. Just tag along with me during the breaks and I'll introduce you to them all."

"Alright; sure, Wakka," I agreed.

"Oh, and we kind of have this tradition where we buy everyone something for Christmas. I know it'll look like your kind of barging in and everything but to most of them, they'll be flattered you're trying to get on their good sides – it's Yuna you got to watch out for."

"Yuna…? Ooh, Yuna… the one you've been trying to hook me up with, right?" I paused. "Why should I watch out for her?"

"She's a little testy when it comes to us Blitzers." He folded his hand into a fist and pounded his chest.

"I don't understand."

"Tidus… she's totally against you and your ultra-ego. She bashes you all the time because of all the girls you've slept with and then dumped them the next day, so just take it easy around her."

"What?!" I shouted. "I give it least two or three days before dumping them; I don't dump them the next day… where does she get off saying these things?!"

"Tidus…"

"And you… you're going out with a new girl every week but she doesn't have a problem with you?"

"She will after I tell her that we're staying _with_ you at _your _cabin."

"Well then, what if I say I don't want her coming?"

"If you tell one person you don't want them there, everyone will pick some place else to go so that everyone can be included… so I don't think you want to do that, unless you don't want in with us."

"No… no, I do," I sighed, draining the milk from my cereal bowl.

"At least give her a chance, yeah?" he suggested. "After meeting you, she might change her feelings towards you. Who knows?"

"Fine…"

"And don't worry; you won't be watching everyone open the presents they got from you. Like I said before; it's a tradition for us to buy _everyone_ a present so soon you'll be a 'someone' if we're staying at your cabin."

"What about Shuyin and Gippal? We can't just leave them here to celebrate Christmas with themselves," I stated.

"Ooh, I know. Shuyin's invited too and so is Gippal."

"Alright," I said. "I'll see you and Gippal at school and I'll fill Shuyin in on everything you just told me."

---

"Tidus, over here," Wakka called me from the other end of the hallway before the first bell had even rung. I turned away from the girl I was talking to and towards the direction of my name and jogged towards him.

"Tidus, this is the gang," he pointed to everyone as they either nodded, greeted me with a 'hi', a 'hello', a 'nice to meet you' or in Rikku's case, who gave me a big bear hug. "And you guys, this is Tidus."

"Which one's Yuna?" I whispered.

"Oh, you guys," he seemed to be ignoring my question but then he asked them, "Uh, where's Yuna?"

"She should be here soon; she had a Yearbook Committee meeting," stated Lulu, just as a tall, thin, brunette came flying in from behind Baralai, placing her arms on his shoulders and bouncing beside him.

"Hey guys; sorry, my meeting ran… uh, Wakka; what's _he_ doing here?" she asked, venom dripping from her words.

"It's not what you think…" Wakka began to explain before she interrupted him.

"Ooh good; so he won't be hanging around with us regularly, then?"

"Oh, then it's exactly what you think…" he forced himself to laugh then tried to change the subject, avoiding Yuna's gaze, he continued. "Well, here comes some good news."

"Wakka; why?"

"That's Yuna, I'm guessing?" I whispered to Wakka before he continued. He just nodded and went on with his good news.

"Wakka… that's not answering my question," Yuna cut in.

"Hold you chocobos, Yuna. I'm getting there," he calmed her before turning towards the rest of the group, "I was saying about how we hadn't found a place to spend Christmas and Tidus, here, graciously offered us to use his cabin at Mt. Gagazet, didn't ya, Tidus?" he elbowed me in the ribs as I nodded.

"Aww, Tidus; that is so sweet," cooed Lenne.

"You did this for total strangers; how nice," giggled Rikku.

"We owe you, Tidus," Chappu punched my arm. I liked all the nice comments but then my joy sunk when I heard Yuna's comment.

"Why?" she asked with a puzzled look.

"…Because, uh, that's what friends do…?" I concluded, knowing it wouldn't be enough to convince her. She didn't say anything; just raised an eyebrow and smiled forcefully.

"Friends, huh?" asked Rikku. She walked – or rather bounced – beside me and motioned me to bend down slightly so she could wrap her arm around my neck. "I like this guy, don't you, Yunie?"

"Yeah…" she added quietly, though I knew – and by the looks on everyone else's faces, they knew – she didn't mean it, so to ease the tension, Wakka continued.

"…but there's more," he added.

"There's always a catch." Yuna sighed grumpily.

"Tidus's brother, Shuyin will also be there; you guys don't mind?" he asked.

"Not at all!" said Lenne as Paine rolled her eyes.

"Good, so it's not a problem then?" asked Wakka but there was no time for an answer – and that, Tidus was pleased about – there was voice calling them from behind.

"Tidus, Wakka… Whatcha guys doing?"

"Oh and Gippal will be there too. We couldn't leave him home alone… that's just cruel," I added as he ran up beside us.

"Gippal; meet the gang…" and Wakka introduced everyone again, only this time I noticed Rikku didn't give Gippal her signature bear hug. They stared at each other as if recognizing each other from somewhere.

Suddenly Gippal's eyes widened in amazement. "Well, if it isn't Cid's little girl… how've you been?" he asked coolly not taking his eyes of her.

"Gippal? Wow, I've been great; how about yourself?"

"Fine, fine…" he muttered. "Wow, Rikku, you've really grown up. You're not twelve anymore, are you?"

"Uh… no, I'm seventeen now… and don't you forget it, buster! None of that calling me 'little girl' or 'kid,' anymore… agreed?"

"And still as hyper as ever, I see," he teased and she smiled at his remark, not realizing he hadn't agreed to her compromise.

"How are Cid and Brother these days?" he asked.

"Same as ever; Buddy's around too."

"Is he, now?" He asked, then he realized something. "Y-you go to Zanarkand High?"

"Duh…" she shook her head slightly. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"Since when? I have never seen you around before?"

"Really? I've seen you tons but…" she paused to think about how she was going to phrase the rest of her sentence before continuing. "…with you being 'the majestic Gippal,' I was kind of worried you wouldn't remember or want to be associated with me."

There was a long awkward silence between the two as everyone just eyed each other, stealing questioning glances at the two and their friends, confusion written on every line of everyone's faces. But to save them all, the bell suddenly rang.

"Ugh, off to Home Room; you guys coming?" asked Yuna, picking up the bag she had set on the floor by her feet and brushing past me, Lenne, Paine, Rikku – still eyeing Gippal – and Baralai following suit.

"We better get going too, Lu," grabbing Lulu's hand, Chappu walked down the hallway away from his friends.

"Aren't you in Yuna's homeroom?" asked Wakka.

"Yeah," I stated simply.

"Alright, see y'all later," called Gippal, tugging on Wakka's shirt and then the two took off racing down the hall after Chappu and Lulu so I headed to my Homeroom Class. Shortly after I walked into the class, I started getting random comments from random girls, all of them eyeing me like I was a piece of candy. Not that I can blame them but do they have to stare so mindlessly?

Creepy Obsessed Deranged Stalkers.

"I saw you on the Sphere yesterday, Tidus," commented Shelinda.

"Yeah, nice moves in the Sphere Pool," winked Dona.

"You sure showed those Luca Goers who's the boss, huh?" added Calli as I nodded, winked, or smiled at all their comments hurriedly rushing to the only empty seat between Elma and Maroda.

---

After Homeroom Yuna and I hadn't talked much; mostly because she just ignored me completely, even during the breaks when Wakka dragged Gippal and me to hang out with them to get to know them better. Oh and that's with the little finger things so it's "to get to know them better." As exciting as that sounded I wasn't interested. Lulu, Baralai, Lenne, Chappu, especially Rikku and heck, even Paine made me feel welcome in their little group but Yuna… she's a whole different story. If looks could kill, I'd be dead… _A thousand _times over.

To put it simply, she and her _unwelcomeness_ outnumbered even Rikku's welcomness and I did not feel welcome there at all, but Wakka insisted that if I wanted to get to know these people, Yuna was the only thing standing in my way. So I just had to ignore her.

Eating lunch was just horrible. Lenne was blabbing on about makeup and some guy she was flirting with in Math class while Yuna was gossiping about what she heard about Dona and Barthello dating; Rikku was engaged in a conversation with Gippal about the past few years they had missed with each other; Baralai kept quoting past Maesters and Paine was rather silent; Chappu and Lulu were making out – not a pretty scene, let me tell you – and Wakka was telling me about everyone and letting me know a little about them.

"

Everything seemed alright, until Elma walked by, flashing me a flirtatious smile, a girly wave and school-girl giggle and Yuna went ballistic, calling me a man-whore and all this shit. I had only one comeback and I used it.

"If I'm such a '_man-whore_' then maybe you shouldn't spend–" but I was cut off by Wakka shaking his head, rolling his eyes and covering my mouth with his hand.

"Yuna, he didn't mean that."

"He's right," I mumbled prying his hand off my face, "I didn't but I really don't appreciate being called a man-whore, thank-you very much," I said firmly, wrinkled my forehead.

"I don't care what you appreciate and what you don't!" Yuna spat hatefully at me.

"Yuna, just try and get along with him. Please – for your friends – just put your hatred aside," opinionated Lulu.

"Please, Yunie; we don't want to put up with you two constantly fighting," pleaded Rikku.

Go Lulu! Go Rikku! Woot! Woot!

"What are you smiling about?" she asked rudely but I ignored her and she turned back to her friends, "Fine… I'll be civil, not nice – for you guys. Let's make that clear; I'm doing it for you guys."

"Yay!" cheered Rikku, kind of hopping from one foot to the other while she punched the air.

---

Over the next week – even though Yuna had simmered down some – she still didn't talk to me much and tried as hard as she could _not_ to make eye contact with me, not that I made much of an effort, either. Sure, she pointed out the littlest things and made a deal out of them but she was getting better at just ignoring them. And I was also trying to keep her at bay; if she said it was annoying when I sighed really loudly – which I don't, just to make that clear – then I would try as hard as possible not to do those things around her. It was saving everyone a lot of grief, but Yuna definitely wasn't interested in becoming friends – let alone acquaintances.

I'm just glad to say that Yuna is my only problem and she seems to be the only one with a problem with me. Little did I know that I had Paine was in my Grade Eleven Level Seven Al Bhed class and she's pretty good when it comes to Al Bhed translation. Al Bhed has always been a thing with me; I collect Al Bhed primers but I'm not too good with the language. Baralai and Lenne are in my Grade Eleven Math Advanced Placement class and they're a lot of fun. We're always joking and laughing in class. We even had a detention for "disrupting" the class the other day. Yuna is my Grade Eleven History class but she pretends she doesn't notice me. Rikku is in my Grade Eleven Politics class and we always have such a blast sitting in the back, passing notes and munching on chocolate bars.

Wakka, Chappu, Lulu and Gippal aren't in any of my classes because they are all a year older than me, but Yuna, Rikku, Lenne, Baralai, and Paine are all in my Grade Eleven English class. I'm so glad I got to meet these people; they've been a lot of fun.

After the first month of hanging out with them, I knew exactly what I wanted to get them all for Christmas so I headed out last weekend with Baralai and Wakka. They both made it sound like it was impossible to shop for these people but I had everything I was going to get for everyone planned out in my head. Yevon, I felt so… feminine. Ugh! After buying everyone a gift we headed for the arcade for an hour.

"So, Baralai, you're pretty close with Paine, eh?" I asked casually while knocking him off the track in our racing game, just as the 'Game Over' flashed on the screen.

"Yeah, our families go way back. We were neighbors and best friends until her parents passed away. And Lulu had already moved out by then." Baralai explained. "Then, she just closed up and stayed at the orphanage all the time. I hardly ever saw her after that."

The whole of Zanarkand knew Paine and Lulu were orphans. It was a tragic story that not many people knew.

"Yea, that's right. Lulu, Chappu and I were best friends and we used to always pick on you two. Paine had no other friends, did she? Just you, yeah?" Wakka laughed.

"She was my only friend, too. We were social outcasts." Baralai chuckled. It was the first time I had seen him in such a happy mood. "Well, I was, anyway. She was relatively normal, just always getting in fights so the other girls stayed away from her."

I laughed. "I could see that."

"Hm…I was just remembering how young and naïve Yuna was back then, yeah? But she fit in with us so well."

"She's the same age as me, Wakka." I pointed out, thickly.

"I know but back then, she was a totally different story."

"Oh? How so? She couldn't have been nice, now could she?" I asked sarcastically.

"Tidus, you need to understand, she wasn't always bitter like she is now. But it's not my story to tell. Get to know her; she'll tell you herself, eventually."

"Do I wanna know her story?" I asked while putting some more money in the quarter machine.

"I dunno, Tidus. Do you?" Wakka raised an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes.

Of course I wanted to know, idiot.

"Just a thought, Wakka," Baralai murmured.

"Yeah?"

"Yuna left with Lulu to Zanarkand, didn't she? Why couldn't she take Paine too?"

"Lu wanted to live on her own and be out to enjoy freedom. Paine was young and still needed her parents around. She was only taking Yuna because Cid had insisted she move in with Rikku in Zanarkand."

"How is Yuna involved with the Al Bhed?" I had to ask.

"Yuna's mother was Cid's sister." Wakka explained.

"Yuna's Al Bhed?" Not possible. Al Bhed's were prohibited to marry outside their culture. "Well, that explains the green eye."

"Exactly. So when Cid heard the news, he made sure she continued her education and insisted she move in with Rikku and Brother. Lulu was contently living on her own, too…"

"…Until Paine ran off to find her," Baralai finished. "I remember the day I was told she was missing. I think I cried."

"Not surprised." Tidus eyed Baralai and Baralai scowled.

"Yeah, I remember the day she randomly showed up in Zanarkand. Lulu almost didn't believe her when Paine told her about their parents."

"That's rough." I could sympathize. I knew what it was like to lose a parent, but I didn't lose mine to death. I lost mine to the abuse of alcohol.

"What about you Baralai, what brought you here?"

"Paine." He stated simply.

"Love?" I asked, batting my eyelashes, mockingly.

"Nope. I just couldn't sit around while no one was looking for her. And I knew her well enough to know where she was headed, even if I hadn't talked to her for months before. So I called my uncle who lives here and I set off to find her."

"That's so touching. And you lived happily ever after?"

"Tidus, enough." Wakka ordered. No one stood up to me but this time, I let it slide.

"But yes, I did find her. And we're just as close now as we used to be, if not closer."

---

As the weeks passed and turned into a month, I was really close with everyone. Hanging out, debating opinions, laughing at our new inside jokes and even phone calls; I just felt like I was barging in on Yuna's friends. But Wakka keeps reassuring that she'll get over it; she'll grow to like me and we'll get along famously.

There was only one month before Christmas Holidays and I was pumped. I couldn't wait. One month and counting. Oh god, before I knew Lulu, I wouldn't have known about Christmas until like three hours prior.

That month just seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, it was the last five minutes of the day before the bell rang and we headed up for Mt. Gagazet for Christmas. I was psyched but the stupid bell wasn't ringing. My eyes were glued to clock as every second seemed to be a minute. I was chewing on the back of my pen and trying to keep my mind busy with other things, hopefully taking my mind off the slow moving clock but everything lead back to the holidays. Just then Sir Auron stood up from his desk.

"Alright, class; before you go, I have a brief announcement!" The class averted their attention towards the front of the room as Sir Auron continued, "Over the break, the Teacher's Committee will be having several meetings concerning the school system of Zanarkand High, so be aware that when you return in two weeks, teaching format will be very different, but until then, there is no homework and I wish you all a good Christmas Holiday."

Everyone gathered their stuff and hurried out of the classroom and into the crowded halls of Zanarkand High. The sounds of lockers opening and closing filled the halls as I hurried to my locker and shoved my stuff inside and heading back to my house to grab all my things, before meeting back at the school's parking lot to meet my friends.

"Alright, is everybody here?" asked Gippal as soon as I came running into view.

"I think so…" concluded Lulu. "… but we have a problem. Tidus's brother–" but she was cut off as Shuyin – the older me – came running from behind me.

"Call me Shuyin; 'Tidus's brother' makes me sound so _old_," he joked and Lenne giggled flirtatiously.

"Alright, Shuyin's car only holds five people; six at the max and there are eleven of us."

"I got it…" I said suddenly as – whoosh – all eyes were on me. I shifted my eyes back and forth making sure I had everyone's attention and I did.

Heh… Cool.

"Okay, so Shuyin'll drive his car and Wakka – you're car is here right? So you can drive as well. Now it's just a matter of dividing us between the two cars."

"How about Baralai, Lulu, Wakka, Chappu and I will go in Wakka's car and Lenne, Tidus, Yuna, Rikku and Gippal go with Shuyin. Good?" suggested Paine.

"Ugh, no way am I going with Tidus. Lulu, please don't make me," pleaded Yuna as Lulu only nodded, "Fine."

"Alrighty… it'll be a tight fit but everyone get in," Shuyin motioned.

"I'm up front!" called Gippal hopping in the passenger's seat.

"Oh, poopie," whined Rikku.

"I call a window!" called Yuna, getting in right after Rikku.

"Me too!" called Lenne running around and hopping in the other door right after me.

Yes, it was a tight fit, no doubt. But we were going to have a blast at Mt. Gagazet and I couldn't wait.

* * *

**Author's note:** Ah, Tidus's chapter… did ya like it? Please leave any Questions, Concerns or Comments in a **review** as well. The next chapter will – with a bit of luck – be up soon. Cross your fingers and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, S.


	3. Chapter Two: Lenne

**Disclaimer:** As much as it pains me to say this; I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2.

**Author's Note:** Heyy, I got this chapter finished pretty quickly so I figured I'd just post right away. Also, I only got two reviews for the last two chapters. TWO! C'mon, at least give it a chance.

* * *

-Within Fate's Grasp-

-Chapter Two-

-Lenne's POV-

---

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way!" Rikku screamed the chorus of the song at the top of her lungs from the center of the backseat as the group of friends drove up the windy road to the peak of Mt. Gagazet.

"For some reason kids love to shout that chorus," laughed Shuyin who was in the driving seat. "It scares the hell out of me and shoots me through a red light every time. I'm never ready for it."

"Hey, who you callin' a kid?" questioned Rikku, twapping him on the back of the head. "You're just as bad as Gippal!"

"Heh heh, I don't think so. I am the 'Bugging Rikku Master!'" Gippal sounded pretty proud of himself. "I live to annoy Rikku. It's my only purpose in life; ain't that right, Cid's Girl?"

"Gippal; how many time do I have to tell you; I have a name," she pointed out, sweetly. "Use it!" she yelled, and soon the car was roaring in laughter.

"Why couldn't you have gone up with Paine, Baralai, Wakka, Chappu and Lulu?" asked Tidus but Rikku didn't answer.

The six of us were quiet but Rikku spoke up, not being able to stand the silence, "So anyone wanna sing a song?"

"No! You'll only get hyped up again! We were finally quiet but you always got to ruin that, don't you?" laughed Gippal from the front passenger's seat.

"Ssshhh," I quieted them down before nodding towards the sleeping form of Yuna, her head resting against the window. "Let's try not to wake her, alright?"

"Alrighty… Rikku, let's play a game, okay? The one to be the quietest until we get to the cabin can, uh…" Shuyin stumbled trying to come up with an award that would shut her up. "Hmm, can… lick the spatula after Lulu bakes the Christmas cake, alright?"

"Shuyin, please note that I am not five but… the game is on!"

"Ssshhh!" I hushed her.

"Right, right, Yuna's sleeping, got it. Sorry."

Soon enough we had arrived and I quickly hopped out of the car, sinking in two feet of snow. Shuyin chuckled as I gasped when the snow seeped into my almost knee-high boots. Rikku hurdled out after me, jumping to the snow. Sometimes… she _really_ was a kid. Gippal got out of the car and walked around the back to the trunk. As I regretted wearing a skirt, I walked slowly over to the stairs where I could at least see my knees and I gasped at the size of their mansion-like cabin.

"Wow, this is your cabin? It's the size of my parent's house!" I squealed.

"Keep it down, Lenne... some of us are trying to sleep..." Yuna said, just barely awake, rubbing her eyes.

"Yunie, we're here!" Rikku said, sticking her head in the car as Yuna yawned, continuing to rub her eyes.

"Yeah," Tidus sighed, looking up at the cottage before him, "I guess having a famous Blitzball father has its advantages…"

"…and its disadvantages," added Shuyin, picking up a beer can and then chucking it towards the garbage that was overflowing with them. He glanced around at all the other beer cans and bottles strewn all over the snow before adding. "He's been up here recently… with his buddies, I'm assuming."

"…or his newest victim," Tidus added, grabbing his bag and handing Lenne hers.

"Who?" I asked curiously.

"Jecht," declared Shuyin and Tidus in unison.

"Oh, your dad," but then I realized that they used his name rather than calling him 'Dad'. "Jecht, huh? Not Dad?"

"Nah, we've become accustomed to calling him Jecht," explained Shuyin.

"When we were younger, before our mom left him, he used to drink a lot so we whenever he came home drunk – which was almost every other night or so – we would call him 'Jecht' rather than 'Dad', hoping it would get through to him that our dad wasn't a drunk but –" Tidus was cut off.

"–But he never got the point," added Shuyin. "Gradually, he started drinking more and more until Mom just couldn't keep up with him. She would always have to bail him out of jail or pay for his drinking fines. We were going broke because he always spent his Blitz money on booze and alcohol."

"It must've been rough," I said, sympathetically as Rikku squealed, drawing our attention away from our conversation.

"Ooh! I brought Christmas decorations; I can't wait to decorate the tree…" squealed Rikku, pulling out a giant suitcase and two other smaller handbags.

"The tree…?" both Tidus and Shuyin looked at each other.

"You guys don't have a Christmas tree?" Rikku pouted.

"Oh… well, uh, we'll improvise; Rikku, take your pick!" Gippal pointed to the nearby forest as she squealed again.

"Yay; Christmas tree hunting."

"Ooh, what fun…" said Shuyin sarcastically, just as Wakka's car came into the driveway.

---

Later that day it was snowing hard – harder than earlier; almost making it impossible to see anything or anyone. Luckily I was wearing my Santa Hat. I was running away from Shuyin who just was right behind me but then when I turned around to call a truce, I couldn't see him anywhere. I knew he would suddenly jump out from behind a boulder or something and scare the living daylights out of me so I hid behind the nearest tree.

After unpacking and getting Rikku a Christmas tree, we decided to just relax for the afternoon. Relax? Like that happened. While we were searching for Rikku's dream tree, I thought it would be cute, and maybe a little funny to hit Shuyin in the face with a snowball. Sure, it was cute and really funny but now he's out to get revenge. He just dropped the tree he was carrying and darted after me, teasingly yelling, "Lenne; get back here! I'm going to kill you."

Gippal isn't the kind of guy to stand by and watch other people pelt and be pelted with snowballs so he clumped some snow together and attacked Rikku. Tidus helped Gippal hit Rikku and Yuna attacked Gippal, attempting to rescue her cousin. Baralai headed for Paine but he knew she wasn't in the mood to have a snowball fight and she knew he was coming. Little did he know, she was in the mood for a snowball fight and smacked him in the arm with a packed snowball before he even had a chance to hit her or make a run for it. Wakka and Chappu charged for each other as Lulu got out my camera, snapping pictures of everyone. The snowball war had begun.

I couldn't stand the suspense. I was holding a snowball in my hand, ready to throw it but there was no sign of Shuyin anywhere. Suddenly my face was covered in snow and Shuyin's face was peaking around the tree I was hiding behind. He had a huge smile across his face and I smashed the snowball that I was holding in his face, wiping off the snow that was on my face and making a run for it. While he cleared his face, I dashed behind another tree waiting for him to run passed me. After he did, I jumped on his back, knocking him face first into the snow. He pushed me off and covered my face in snow. I jumped up and ran after him as he was headed back to the cabin. He ran over and picked up Rikku, holding her up in front of himself, while she kicked and screamed.

Everyone was laughing as I pelted snowball after snowball at Rikku. Soon enough everyone got involved and started throwing snowballs at Rikku as she continued to squirm in Shuyin's grip. Eventually she fell to the ground, covered in snow and we all kneeled beside her, laughing. As he hopped to his feet – me doing the same – Shuyin grabbed Rikku's Santa hat and my fuzzy green scarf and put them on.

"Like my new fashion statement?" he joked.

"Oh, yes… it's totally your style," I giggled.

"Shuyin, Lenne; smile, I want to take a picture of you guys," Lulu called for us. I turned around and suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around me from behind. Shuyin's… then Lulu took the picture.

"I'll be right back, you guys," I called as I ran inside, heading for the kitchen and loading my pockets with ice cubes. Then I headed outside, right as Rikku yelled, "Everyone for themselves." _Perfect_.

I ran for Shuyin whose arms were piled a mile high with packed snowballs. He started throwing them at me, one by one as a dodged most of them. Soon enough he was out of snowballs and was running away from me. He tripped and fell into the snow, rolling over as I climbed on top of him.

"I like this position," he stated with a sly smile across his face.

"You do, do you? Well, you won't in a second," I said with a devious smile.

"Lennie?" he knew something was coming.

"We should talk about these freezing cold ice cubes that are going to be going down that nice warm sweater of yours," I stuck my hands in my pocket and pulled out two handfuls of ice cubs.

"Lenne… you wouldn't dare," he squirmed from under me but I knew he didn't mind all that much. He was a hell of lot stronger that me and he could push me off and run away but he wasn't.

"Or would I?" and after that, I stuffed them down his shirt, hopped off him to watch him jump around trying to make them fall out.

"Lenne; I'm going to kill you!" he yelled.

"Bring it on!" I chuckled, throwing another snowball at him as the ice cubs fell around him. As soon as he was ice cube free, he ran after me so I ran and hid behind Lulu.

"Who wants some hot chocolate?" asked Lulu, looking down at me clutching the back of her dress.

"Yes! Hot chocolate!" I yelled, racing into the cabin as everyone headed inside for some of Lulu's all-famous hot chocolate.

---

While Lulu made her hot chocolate, Rikku, Yuna, Gippal, Tidus and I decorated the tree, hung up stocking and even piled the neatly wrapped presents under the tree. After that was finished, we sat down and everyone was joking, laughing, and telling stories when suddenly Lulu walked into the room with a tray full of hot chocolate.

"Lenne, I didn't have enough hands to bring the sugar and marshmallows; would you mind running and grabbing them?"

"Sure thing, Lu; hot chocolate isn't hot chocolate without marshmallows, is it?" I beamed, hopping out of my armchair and rushing into the kitchen.

"I'll come with you incase you need an extra hand," offered Shuyin, getting up and crossing the room.

"Alrighty; we're off the get the marshmallows," I sang the Wizard of Oz tune, linking arms with him and skipping into the kitchen. I let go of him as we reached the cupboards and counter.

"Lenne," he stated, grabbing my arm and turning me around.

"Yes?" I asked, looking up at his smiling face.

"Look," he nodded towards the ceiling. I followed his gaze until I realized we were standing underneath mistletoe. "You know the tradition, right?"

"Mmhmm," I murmured as he lowered his head and his lips captured mine. His arms were wrapped tightly around my waist and I threw mine around his neck. I smiled against his lips and then quickly pulled back after I heard someone clear their throat. Shuyin turned around and I stuck my head out from behind him. Lulu was standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot.

"Getting marshmallows, weren't you?"

"Uh, yeah, we got sidetracked; stupid mistletoe," I explained grabbing the mistletoe and stuffing it in my pocket.

"I'd think so, but the hot chocolate is getting cold. Hurry up with those marshmallows, will you?"

"Right away, Lulu," I saluted her. Shuyin just laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"That mistletoe was plastic," he laughed a little harder as I joined in.

"Marshmallows!" shouted Lulu.

"Coming!" I called back, grabbing them out of the cupboard and throwing the bag of sugar at Shuyin.

"Finally; what took you guys so long?" asked Tidus, ripping open the bag and dumping a bunch of marshmallows into his cup.

"You weren't making out under the mistletoe Rikku put in the kitchen, were you?" asked Gippal, taking the bag away from Tidus.

"No," we both stated and then stared at each other before laughing.

"Sure you weren't. It just took you ten minutes to find the marshmallows that were right in front of you, right?" hooted Chappu.

"Chappu, nothing happened," Lulu assured him as I sighed.

"We weren't making out but I wouldn't say that absolutely nothing happened," declared Shuyin, winking at me as I blushed and tried to avert my gaze elsewhere.

"Now look, Shuyin, you made her blush," teased Yuna, swatted him playfully, "Shame on you."

"Lenne and Shuyin sittin' in a tree; K-I-S-S-I-N-G," sang Rikku and Gippal.

"No, no… you guys; it's not in a tree, it's _under_ a tree," teased Wakka and the room broke into an uproar of laughter.

"Oh, grow up, you guys," said Paine, taking a sip of her hot chocolate, trying to suppress her smile.

"Thank you, Paine," I laughed, blushing harder as I could feel Shuyin's stare.

"But that was a good one, Wakka," laughed Paine, giving him a high-five.

"It was, wasn't it, ya?" he laughed, Lulu shaking her head, rolling her eyes and smiling.

"Okay, you guys. Look at Lenne; she's totally embarrassed," announced Baralai, "Let's drop the subject."

"Yes, let's," I grabbed the bag of marshmallows and dumped a few in my cup, my cheeks going back to their normal colour. There was a moment of silence as everyone took a swig of their hot chocolate.

"Under a tree, not in a tree; I'll never forget that one. That was hilarious," laughed Tidus and the whole room burst out laughing again.

---

I was up early the next morning. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table and decided that everyone would be up soon so I climbed out of bed, careful not to wake the sleeping, snoring form of Yuna who lay with her face stuffed in a pillow. I walked into the Kitchen dressed in my pajamas and looking tired. I regretted getting up at all when I saw who was in the room but there was no turning back – he already noticed me.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Shuyin greeted me as I sat down on a stool. "Ready to hit the slopes?"

"Are you kidding? I haven't been boarding for the longest time."

"Boarding, huh? Are you any good? You strike me as a beginner skier," stated Shuyin, handing me a cup of coffee. I took a sip, while thinking of a comeback.

"Well, you strike me as a loser," I giggled at my failed attempt at a comeback. I could have done better than that. Damn it, Lenne.

"And you strike me as a pretty damn good kisser." At that my head snapped up to look at his devilish smirk, as he poured himself a cup of coffee. I knew I was blushing and I knew I had to act quickly and say something smart.

"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "You know you weren't so bad yourself."

"We should do it again some time."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," then he turned and walked into the kitchen after winking at me. Even after he was out of the room, I knew my cheeks were still beat red with embarrassment.

---

"Hey; I got a brilliant idea!" called Rikku, from her comfortable position on the floor. It was seven o'clock, after Christmas Eve dinner and were all lying around, joking and laughing like you should on Christmas Eve.

"Oh yeah, Rikku, what's that?" asked Paine.

"Each of us should get to open _one_ present that's under the tree," she declared.

"That's the first smart thing I've heard you say all day, Cid's Girl," teased Gippal.

"Yeah, smart thinking, Rikster," added in Tidus.

"And since you came up with it, you get to open the first one, alright?" Lulu stated, taking a seat next to Chappu as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Rikku squealed and bounced over to the tree grabbing a present and taking a seat between Baralai and Gippal.

"Who's it from, Rikku?" I asked.

"Ooh, it's from Lulu."

"Open it. I know you'll like them."

"Okay, okay; I'm opening, I'm opening," and she tore open the neatly wrapped gift to find a small white box. Taking off the lid she squealed – yet again.

"Ooh! Lulu, I love them! Thank you!" she bounced over to Lulu and flung her arms around her in a big bear hug.

"Try them on. I would like to see what they look like on you," Lulu ushered. Rikku pulled out the two orange feathery earrings and put them in. I reached into my purse and pulled out my handheld mirror and handed it to her as she looked at herself.

"Eek; they look so cool! Thank you, Lulu!" squeaked Rikku, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Who is next?" asked Yuna.

"How about you go next, Yunie," Rikku giggled, playing with her earrings. So to skip the all the hugging, squealing, thanking from everyone else and kissing from Lulu and Chappu; Yuna got a blue hairpiece from yours truly, Lulu got a new Moogle from Chappu, Paine got a silver necklace from Baralai, Baralai got a blue headband from Tidus, Tidus got another Al Bhed Primer for his collection from Gippal, Shuyin got a book on girls from Wakka, Gippal got a pet rock – of all things – from Rikku, Wakka got a new Blitzball from Yuna, Chappu got a box of chocolate from Paine and I got these absolutely beautiful orange beaded earrings from Shuyin. Afterward, we just sat around until two in the morning before we decided to retire for the night.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wow, I thought that was quite cheesy. I know I'm bringing in the fluff too quick, but whatever... If you have any Questions, Concerns or Comments, please leave me a **review**. Thanks for reading and hopefully **reviewing**. Hope you enjoyed it and stick with me for the next chapter, S.


	4. Chapter Three: Baralai

**Disclaimer:** As much as it pains me to say this; I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2.

**Author's Note:** Hello, here is the fourth chapter. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

-Within Fate's Grasp-

-Chapter Four-

-Baralai's POV-

---

"It's Christmas!" Rikku's shrill voice rang through the ears of all the sleeping people of the cottage, while Rikku jumped on the couch Paine wasn't sleeping on. "Wake up, Sleepy Heads!"

I reached over for my watch and took a double glance at the time. "Rikku! It's only five thirty! Go back to bed!" I shouted as she continued to bounce while Lenne and Yuna came running into the living room where I was trying to sleep. Eventually the place was ablaze with noise so I decided to get up anyways and enjoy the wonders of Christmas. Lulu came out of the kitchen with a tray of cups of coffee and I grabbed one after she set the tray on the coffee table.

"So Baralai, how'd you sleep?" asked Tidus, who was just coming up the stairs from the basement, wearing only his Christmas coloured boxers, yawning while Shuyin wasn't far behind him.

"Better than last night," I commented, stretching in my sleeping bag.

"Why's that?"

"Paine didn't steal my pillow," I stated, nodding my head towards Paine, who was still stretched out on the couch as Tidus laughed. "And by the way, Tidus… nice boxers."

"You think Yuna will notice?" he questioned, chuckling as he turned to watch her laughing with Rikku and Lenne, opening their stockings and throwing tinsel at each other.

"How could she not? You can see those colours from a mile away," I pointed out, laughing at his red and green polka-dot boxers. "So, you like Yuna, huh?"

"Nah, it's just kind of weird being around her."

"You mean because you guys argue so much?"

"No – well… yeah, that too – but mainly because she's the only girl at Zanarkand A-East High who isn't obsessively in love with me, you know?"

"No, not really, can't say I do; never had anyone obsessively in love with me before," I chuckled. "So that's why your being so nice to Yuna, huh?"

"What?" he asked thickly, pulling his attention back to me.

"You're only being nice to Yuna because you want her to be 'obsessively' in love with you?" I asked, bringing his hands into the air to quote.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" Tidus waved his arms to indicate that he was serious and I believed him.

"Then why are you trying so hard? She practically wants you dead and you're acting like she's some royal _princess_. What gives?"

"I don't know how to act around her. Usually, I just smile and all the girls faint but with Yuna… she's sends me a 'get out of my face' vibe. Its weird having someone hate me; I just don't have enemies. Or at least that's what I thought until I met Yuna. I guess I just want her to like me, even as a friend."

"That won't be hard to accomplish," I indicated. "Yuna's not one to keep grudges and if you keep up what you're doing; I know you two will start getting along." He looked at me with a confused look and I chuckled as Paine snored loudly. Both our heads turned towards her as she rolled over, falling off the couch, pulling her blankets and pillow with her. After she hit the floor, she sprung up, rubbing the back of her head. I just laughed as she gave me her famous 'Baralai, go die!' death glare.

"Finally; Paine's awake! We can open presents now!" squealed Rikku and leaping over to the tree, grabbing presents and chucking them to the person on the tag.

---

"Now that we're finished opening the presents; who wants to play a game of hide n' seek?" squealed Rikku, shoving her hand into the air.

"Rikku; how old are we? Six?" asked Tidus, lying back on the couch.

"Yewouch," she narrowed her eyes and slowly lowered her hand. "You know, Tidus… every time you insult me, a little bit of my heart chips away… as well as a little bit of the teensy weensy amount of respect I have left for you."

"Touché, Rikku," Tidus chuckled and Rikku stuck out her tongue, teasingly.

"Fine; since Tidus is such a killjoy, how about we play cards?"

"Cards?" I asked, not sounding too interested in the idea. "Why don't we go boarding? It was snowing pretty hard last night."

"Good luck getting out of this place. We're snowed in, buddy. I already tried the door but I'm not stopping you from letting me prove you wrong; go check it," Rikku declared, laughing as I got up and headed for the door.

"Go on, Baralai; open it. I dare you!" Rikku exclaimed, climbing onto the couch and resting her elbows on the back, facing the front door. I turned the door handle and swung the door open, looking at a white icy wall of snow blocking any chance of getting out. I closed the door, walked back to the living room, taking a seat next to Rikku – who was now sitting normally – and picked up the deck of cards and began to shuffle them.

"So what'll it be guys? Rummy? Crib?" I asked, laughing, then turning to Rikku, "…or how about Crazy Eights?"

"Hah hah, very funny, Baralai; you should be a comedian," Rikku said, sarcastically, punching my arm.

"Let's just play, before I invade the spare bedroom and sleep the rest of the day," Paine moaned.

"Awh, c'mon Paine; lighten up some," I teased, but only to receive another one of Paine's death glares and a pillow in the head from Lenne.

"Okay, since no one else is suggesting some card games I choose…" Gippal pondered then grabbing Rikku in a headlock and ruffled her hair, he called out, "Crazy Eights!"

Although there were quite a few groans, we ended up having a great time; however Rikku whooped our butts… big time. After we were bored of playing cards – and Rikku rubbing her victorious win in our faces – we moved onto Twister, the game of uncomfortable positions, yet everyone agreed.

"Okay, Baralai… right hand, yellow," Lulu directed, after spinning the dial. After, moving my hand to a yellow circle and trying to hold myself up, Lulu spun again. "Paine… left foot, green."

"Alright," she pondered aloud. Eventually she decided on the closest yellow circle to her though this was where the uncomfortable positions came in. I was facing down towards the ground, with one hand right above my head and the other reaching underneath myself and behind my right leg. My right leg was directly beneath me and my left was stretching far to the right, crossing behind me. I was having a tough time keeping my self up, though Paine had it easy. She was facing up with her hands comfortably spread out behind her, her left leg stretching in front of her and right leg directly under her butt though now she had to move her left foot to yellow which was on the other side of me. So she stretched underneath me as I arched my back to make it easier for her to reach. Nevertheless, I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold that position forever. Apparently so did Rikku, so as soon as she burst out laughing, so did I and as a result I collapsed on top of Paine. How embarrassing; damn this damned Twister game!

---

It was three o'clock when Shuyin, Tidus and I decided to break down or dig through the wall blocking the door. Sure, we were laughed at but we were determined to get out. I was beginning to feel like a science lab mouse, being trapped in such a cramped, crowded – yet huge – cabin. Though, having the screaming, hyper, little Rikku bouncing around was a bonus… not. I had to get out of there… and fast.

"Hey, Yuna; do you think you could run downstairs and find a shovel?" Tidus asked, hoping she wouldn't slap him.

"What am I?" she asked, rudely, placing her hands on her hips, "Another one of your maid?"

"No; Yuna, you're not my maid, but…" he answered then deciding to make her mad, he continued. "…I just figured that with a body like that, you must do a lot of running or working out or something to keep it in shape; didn't think you were this lazy."

Even though it was both a comment and an insult, her jaw dropped and she wouldn't let him win like that. I could see the frustrated gleam in her eyes as she flipped through her mental comeback index, "Excuse me; who are you calling lazy? You're the one who has a maid to do everything for you."

"At least I have the money for a maid…"

"… and I bet that she's a wrinkly sixty year old widow…" Yuna cut him off. "…and you don't have to capacity to keep your pants zipped."

"Guys; stop this," I jumped in to save Tidus from a black eye and Yuna from a broken nail that she would complain about for years, "You're acting like toddlers."

"A toddler wouldn't be able to come up with a comeback like that," Gippal chipped in, patting Tidus's shoulder, sympathetically.

"Thank you, Gippal," Yuna tilted her head to the side and smiled sweetly at him.

"Stop, drop and roll, Buddy; 'cause you've just been burned," chuckled Gippal, walking into the kitchen and Yuna following suit.

"I need some comebacks," Tidus chimed in after they were out of earshot.

"Stop worrying about your comebacks and help me break down this wall," I instructed, just as a hand broke through the ice barrier.

"You guys, I climbed through the window in the attic and hopped down. It's easier digging from the outside rather than from in there," Shuyin's voice came through the small hole where his hand had been moments ago.

"You broke through," I stated, quite enthusiastically. "Nice job, now just run against it."

"Tried that while Yuna was dissing Tidus," he laughed. "I'm not strong enough. How about you try from in there?"

"Nope, that wouldn't work. It's all ice in here," Tidus sighed. "We'll come around."

"Be quick… my toes are numb."

---

After spending two and a half hours attempting to break through the ice wall caging our friends into the cabin, we were finally successful. Wakka, Chappu and Gippal also joined us and we rammed against it, though… the snow and ice shattered all over the floor of the hallway in front of the door, so we had decided to just let it melt but Lulu said that was not an option and threw us a couple brooms. What a fun forty-five minutes that was.

"All done?" Lulu called from the kitchen. I laughed as Chappu rested his forehead against hall and heaved a heavy sigh. "I'll take that as a 'no'?"

"Lu; my arms hurt," Chappu whined as she stuck her head around the corner, and she spun around to look at her.

"Awh, muffin," she stated, laughing slightly, walking towards him.

"Muffin?" Tidus, Shuyin, Gippal, Wakka and I all glanced at each other, questioningly as Chappu turned around and shrugged.

"Yes…" Lulu declared, wrapping her arms around Chappu's shoulders from behind, resting her chin on his on his right shoulder and kissing his cheek. "Chappu's my muffin."

"Do we need nicknames; especially in public?" he turned around to face her, slinking his arms around her waist and leaning her against the wall, capturing her lips in his.

"Eww; get a room!" Lenne called as she walked up the stairs and into the living room.

"Gah! Virgin eyes, here!" Rikku yelled and covered her eyes and started running around the room like a chicken with no head.

"Yeah, we don't need to see that. Save it for the bedroom, would ya?" I suggested, as Lulu and Chappu laughed and blushed.

"Anyways, the turkey should be done any second now," Lulu informed us, as the dinger went and we gathered around the table.

---

Later that night after everyone was sleeping, I was still tossing and turning trying to sleep but I wasn't having much luck. Part of the reason was that I was sleeping on the floor in the living room. For the past few days while we've been staying here, Lulu and Chappu were sleeping in master bedroom; Yuna and Lenne called the spare bedroom; Rikku and Gippal got the bunk beds in the closet; Wakka thought it'd be funny to sleep in the bathtub so we padded and cushioned it with pillows and blankets and he said it was actually quite comfy; Tidus slept downstairs on the Pool Table and Shuyin slept down there with him, only on the sofa. Paine and I were in the Living Room though neither of the couches were a hide-a-bed and only one of the two couches was long enough for either of us to sleep on so I let her have it and I agreed to sleep on the floor which was very uncomfortable. I bet the bathtub or even the pool table was more comfortable, but I managed. Though that wasn't the main reason; the main reason I couldn't sleep was because I could tell Paine was having a bad dream. She was mumbling things to herself and she was shaking uncontrollably. As soon as I noticed this I jumped up and held her down to stop her from shaking. I started calling her name but it was no use so I shook her, more and more forcefully as I realized she was waking up. And eventually she did; springing into a sitting position, her hand rushing to her forehead.

"Paine, are you okay? What happened?" she was breathing heavily as she looked around the room until her terrified eyes rested on mine.

"I had a nightmare," she breathed, closing her eyes as a few tears slid down her cheeks. I cupped her face and wiped the tears away with my thumbs.

"Yeah, I know. You broke out into a cold sweat; you were mumbling to yourself and shaking frantically."

"It's the same one I have every night."

"You have the same nightmare every night? But, wait… last night or for the past few nights… nothing like this happened."

"I have it every night, but tonight was just more… it just seemed so much more real," she whispered between sobs, as she grabbed my hand for comfort.

"Why are you continuously having this nightmare?"

"I never told you this because…" she sobbed, more tears seeping from her crimson eyes. "…because every time I think about it, I-I just; I just want to cry but I feel like I'm letting them down when I cry. They always told me to be strong," I just looked at her, not understanding who she was talking about but she continued. "…and then I find myself suffocating in memories and my own tears." She continued to cry as I sat beside her, wrapping my arms around her as she clung to my shirt, burying her face in my chest, her tears soaking through my shirt but I didn't mind; as long as I was there to console her.

"Shh… it's okay. I'm here," I whispered in her hair while rocking her back and forth, trying to sooth her. This was a side of Paine I have never seen before; a heartbroken, shattered, insecure Paine. A Paine I wasn't used to. It was saddening to see her in this state; crying and needing someone for support. I was about to ask her what happens in this nightmare but decided against it. She probably wouldn't want to talk about it but then she answered it for me, as if she was reading my mind.

"It's just a playback; a playback of how they died. It's my fault they died. If I had said something – anything – maybe they wouldn't have gone out and they'd still alive. It haunts my dreams, knowing it was my fault," she cried, shaking her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault; you didn't know it was going to happen so you can't blame yourself," I reassured her while she nodded, thoughtfully.

"They always said they'd be there for me but they lied," she sobbed into my shirt. "How could they just leave me like that?"

There was nothing I could say. I was speechless as she continued to weep, "Late at night, when everyone's sleeping, I crawl into my closet and just cry, remembering all the things we'd been through. _Him_; teaching me how to ride a bike and rushing me inside to get a band-aid whenever I scraped my knee," she smiled and laughed slightly, remembering and looking out the window at the falling snow, "…and _her_; teaching me how to get over a boyfriend and drowning me in Vanilla ice cream until I couldn't feel feelings anymore."

"Sounds like you had some pretty good times," I chuckled and smoothed her hair.

"Yeah, we did," she smiled but as fast as her smile appeared, it faded. "But then one day, it all just ended. After the two most important people in the world to you die; it's hard to move on. You stop wanting to move on. You just want to sit and stare a pictures, watch spheres, or just cry." She gazed out the window, leaning against my chest. A single tear escaped from her tear-jerking eyes as she brought her hand up to her chest, grasping the silver chain around her neck. "They meant the world to me and I'll never forget them."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I know Paine seemed kind of out of character but I think Paine has the tough exterior but inside she's totally shattered and I also think I expressed that pretty well in this chapter. Please leave me a **review** and let me know what you think of the other side of Paine. Have any Questions, Concerns or Comments? Leave 'em in a **review**, please! Hope you enjoyed the chappie, S.


	5. Chapter Four: Lulu

**Disclaimer:** As much as it pains me to say this; I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2.

**Author's Note:** Hey there, here's the next chapter. Now that Christmas break as started, my job has become more demanding so that means less time for writing. Be patient.

* * *

-Within Fate's Grasp-

-Chapter Five-

-Lulu's POV-

---

"I'm making Pina Colada Shakes," I exclaimed, early the next morning.

"Lu, we haven't had one of your shakes since we left Besaid," Yuna declared.

"I know and I figured it was about time," I declared turning on the blender and zoning out our conversation.

"Shakes?" Someone asked as I shut off the blender and I looked up to see Tidus who had entered the kitchen, dressed in his green and red polka-dot boxers.

"Tidus…" Yuna sighed, before he could even sit down. "Go put some clothes on."

"You don't like my boxers?" he joked.

"Oh yes, I do but I'd love them if they weren't visible."

"If that's how its gunna be, then I want you to cover yourself too," he nodded, just as Shuyin and Baralai entered the kitchen and pulled up a stool at the island.

"Cover myself?" she asked, looking down at her silky blue pajama bottoms and long sleeved dark blue pajama top. "I think I'm pretty covered."

"I mean you're bare feet, stupid," he pointed to her toes, as she wiggled them. "I don't want to pick up any of your toe funguses."

"Toe funguses?" she asked as I rolled my eyes. This was going to go on forever until I set down a plate of pancakes and we all grabbed for one.

As soon as we were finished our shakes and sick and tired of hearing Yuna and Tidus bickering, we all gathered in the Living Room while we watched the sphere.

"You know, I'm sick of the cold," Rikku complained, sitting on the floor in front of the fire place.

"Yeah, my toes are cold," Yuna whined, sitting beside Rikku, holding her toes.

"I told you to cover yourself," Tidus declared, sitting on the floor in front the couch

"Shut up, Tidus," Yuna scowled.

"You walked right into that one, Yunie," Rikku commented.

"I think it's about time we go back to Zanarkand," Yuna suggested, changing the subject.

"Might as well; there's only three days left of the holiday," Chappu added.

"Alright; it's settled," I concluded, sitting up, out of my lying position on the longer couch, Chappu behind me with his arms around my waist. "Let's pack our things and we'll head down tomorrow around two, alright?"

"Alrighty!" Rikku bounced around before rushing to her room.

The following morning, we were on the road back to Zanarkand by eleven o'clock sharp. The trip was long and excruciating but we made it. Eventually, anyways; thanks to Yuna who suggested we change the seating plan so I switched with Tidus. Driving a four hour route at a reasonable speed with Rikku and her tiny bladder shouldn't take five and a half hours but this time, it did.

"We're home!" Shuyin exclaimed, shutting up Rikku who was singing along with the song on the radio as we pulled into their apartment building driveway. Shuyin's car pulled in behind Wakka's and everyone got out.

"That was the worst car ride… ever," complained Shuyin, getting out of car, after driving into the driveway and parking his car beside Wakka's.

"Was not," Rikku argued, hopping out of the passenger's seat.

"Oh, yes it was," Gippal commented, stepping out of the car after Paine. "You had the radio loud enough to drown out our own thoughts."

"… B-but I liked that song," she whined, then, hoping Yuna would take her side, she asked, "Yunie?"

"What?" Yuna shouted. "My ears are still ringing."

"Yuna, are your ears still ringing?" Lenne shouted, louder.

"I can't hear you; my ears are still ringing," Yuna shouted back.

"Are you sick of this game yet?" Lenne asked, laughing.

"She might not be but we are," I chipped in.

As it was so late I invited them to stay the night. Shuyin, Gippal, Wakka, Baralai, Tidus and Chappu slept in the Living Room but not until Yuna had simmered down and agreed to let Tidus sleep in her house.

---

When I got up, everyone was still over. I lazily hauled myself up and downstairs and into the kitchen where Tidus, Wakka, Rikku and Gippal were squirting beverages out of their noses. How mature. I poured some orange juice and dodged the flying beverage flying through the air and made my way to the Living Room.

"What time is it?"

"Hmm…" Paine pondered aloud before looking at Baralai's watch. "Four o'clock on the dot." Suddenly, Tidus came running into the room and switched on the Sphere. So as everyone crowded into the Living Room I went for a shower.

After returning, I lazily walked back into the Living Room, watching my zombie-like friends stare mindlessly at the Sphere.

"Whatcha watching?" she asked, casually.

"The Blitzball game," stated Tidus, monotonously.

"Who's playing?"

"The Duggles against the Goers," said Wakka, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Where's it being held?"

"Luca…" Gippal trailed off before silencing her. "Shh…"

"Okay… but before we all stop talking… what's the score?"

"Three to one for the Duggles," Yuna explained.

"Damn those Duggles," Tidus cursed. He absolutely loathed the Duggles, but they were Zanarkand A-East's enemies, as goes for the rest of the Zanarkand Blitz teams. As Zanarkand was such a huge city, it was divided into four sections; A-East, C-South, B-West and D-North. As each section was as big as every other city on Spira, each section was entitled to a Blitz team – the A-East Abes, the C-South Duggles, the B-West Bombs, and the D-North Elements – and each team was allowed to participate in tournaments, but only one team from Zanarkand can go to the finals, so the teams fight to get the spot at the top.

"So… who wants something to eat?"

"Shhh…" they all hushed me. Was I the only one not interested in Blitzball?

"Okay, eggs it is…" I said, sarcastically.

"Shhh…"

"I know, I know," I waved my hands furiously as I got up, walked in front of the Sphere – they all gasped until I was out of the way – and I walked into the kitchen.

"Yes!" they all shouted, hooted and hollered as the Goers scored just after I got out of the way, just seeing the play.

While the gang watched the game, I was slaving over a hot stove making eggs like I promised. I could hear them cheering and hollering but I was never a big fan of the sport. Shortly before the game ended, Chappu came into the kitchen. I was rather surprised that he found the will power to pull himself away from the Sphere.

"Hey, why aren't you watching the game?"

"Oh, the Goers have it in the bag. The score is thirty to five; no need to see the end," he told me. "I'm surprised at the Duggles' lack of energy, co-operation and overall performance. They've never sucked this badly before."

"Really?" I asked, pretending to be interested.

"Lu, I know you don't care. I was just teasing." Nothing gets past him.

"So, why are you here?"

"I came to help with the setting of the table and the washing of the dishes," he chuckled, a smirk creeping across his handsome features. I handed him a pile of dishes and pointed to the table as I went back to washing the pan. He set the table and called for everyone to come eat. After we were finished eating, Chappu pulled me outside and we snuck away for a bit.

---

"Oh my Yevon; details," demanded Lenne, the moment I walked through the front door.

"Details; what's there to say?" I asked, then changing the subject I continued. "Are Tidus and Shuyin here? Chappu met up with Wakka, Gippal and Baralai on the way home and they're going out tonight for a 'Guy's night out.' But none of them have seen Tidus and Shuyin for a while."

"You just ditched us after dinner and we haven't seen you for four hours," Rikku declared, as Lenne shook her head to my previous question.

"Oh my Yevon, you guys are suffocating me with your inquisitiveness," I spat angrily.

"Inquisi-what?" Lenne asked, stupidly.

"Yes, like nosiness, curiosity. It means you can't mind your own business," I enlightened them.

"We're suffocating you?" Rikku asked as Yuna walked into the room, Paine not that far behind her.

"Yes… I can't even go out for coffee with Chappu without you two biting my head off, wanting to know exactly what happened. You even think that we might want to keep our personal lives, umm… personal, maybe?"

"You're boring," Rikku stated, simply.

"But... before I stop asking you personal questions, there something I need to know," Lenne wrinkled her nose and furrowed her eyebrows, curiously. "What's he like?"

"What's he like?" I asked, confused. "You're around him a lot; you shouldn't have to ask."

"No, what's he like? Like, when you two are 'alone', I mean."

"That's it!" I shouted, furiously. "Why would you want to know these things? Would you want me questioning the things you do on your dates?"

Lenne and Rikku exchanged glances before staring quizzically at me, "We wouldn't mind."

"Well, I do mind."

"So, what's he like in bed?" Lenne asked, randomly.

"Lenne!" I yelled, turning on my heel and leaving the house, slamming the door behind me. I rushed down the walkway as the door swung open and Yuna, Lenne, Rikku and Paine stuck their heads out.

"Where are you going?" Rikku yelled but I pretended not to hear her.

"Lulu, please; where are you going? It's almost ten o'clock," Yuna pointed out.

"I'm going for a walk; I'll be back in a while. Don't wait up," I yelled back, emphasizing the 'don't', hopefully drilling into their heads that I didn't want them awake when I got back. I heard Yuna sigh and then the door close so I continued to walk down the walkway, regretting that I did not grab my coat.

I wasn't sure how long I had been walking or for how far, but it didn't matter nor did I care. I was just so mad. No, I was furious. Infuriated, even. After a while I stopped and looked at my surroundings. I really had no idea where I was but I sat on a bench and looked at the beautiful scenery. Behind me there was a children's park with the swing set, the slides and even the little sandbox. I walked over to a swing and sat down, swinging slowly as I started remembering the old childhood days when I used to go to the children's park with Wakka, Yuna, Chappu and Paine and spend all day playing House, Cops and Robbers, Tag or Hide N' Seek. But the tranquility of my peaceful thoughts was suddenly penetrated when I heard footsteps walking towards me.

"Lu?" asked a voice some distance behind me. I turned around to see Chappu, the one person I was dying to see, walking towards me. "Lu, what's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing; don't worry about it," I told him, though not sounding too convincing so I changed the subject. "Why aren't you out with the guys?"

"Nothing?" he asked, obviously not convinced, sitting on the next swing over. "Lu, I know you better than anyone. I think I'd know when something's wrong and something is definitely wrong."

"I know, I know; there's no convincing you, is there?" I smiled nervously.

"Care to tell me what's on your mind? What happened?"

"Rikku and Lenne happened."

"Rikku and Lenne?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "What'd they say this time?"

"They won't stop bugging me about my personal life… and my life away from them, like when I'm with you."

"Oh… this is a new situation."

"Yeah; but as soon as I walked through that front door, they started hounding me with questions."

"Do I dare ask?"

"No… let's not go there."

"Okay," he chuckled. "So what do you want to do about it?"

"I was thinking I could just give them the cold shoulder or the silent treatment," I pondered aloud.

"How old are you – six?" he laughed.

"Yeah, you're right. What do you think I should do?"

"Maybe you need a bit of a break from them," he suggested.

"A break, huh? Why didn't I think about that?" I asked myself before something entered my mind. "But wait – don't you think that'd be hard? I kind of live with them."

"Well, I have an idea, but…"

"Yeah?"

"It's kind of extreme," he stated.

"I'm up for anything," I told him, ushering him to tell me his idea.

"You could move in with me."

"Seriously? But wouldn't it look like I'm abandoning them?" I asked, dramatically.

"Just explain to them that you need a break from them and not to mention a little more quality time with your smokin' hot boyfriend," he suggested.

"You're right," I laughed quietly. "Thanks, Chappu, you always know what to say."

"I'm your boyfriend; it's my job."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I love this couple; they're so cute and easy to write about. If you have any Questions, Concerns or Comments, you can leave those in a **review**. Just a little hinter for you all: I'm crazy about **reviews**. They're like a drug; I need them for to continue writing. Uh, anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, S.


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